


Dreaming of Fen'Harel

by deepthoughtsay42



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-13
Packaged: 2018-03-12 04:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3342920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepthoughtsay42/pseuds/deepthoughtsay42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Lavellan struggles to forget Solas and all that he meant to her, he starts appearing in the strangest places in her dreams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreaming of Fen'Harel

As her name was announced to the court, everyone turned to look at The Inquisitor: tamer of mages and Wardens, destroyer of the Breach and Corypheus. She descended the steps gracefully, the flush in her cheeks slight as she felt the multitude of eyes upon her. Unlike before, she wore a floaty dress of periwinkle which emphasized the slight curves of her body. The hair piled elegantly on top of her head revealed the large pointy ears that once had scandalized the court. Today, however, they smiled adoringly at her, many rushing forward to ask for a dance. She vaguely remembered another dance with a partner far more adept at dancing than she, but was drawn from her reverie as the Empress requested a dance.  
The Empress pulls her into a far more intimate dance than expected, and Lavellan was surprised to find the manner and skill of the dance so familiar. The eyes of the whole court were upon them, but she felt rather than saw one particularly intense gaze. As the empress twirled her, she noted that the source of the feeling came from a thin figure leaning against a pillar.  
Her heart began to pound in her chest, and she looked away quickly, pretending not to have seen. It had to be her imagination. Her dance ended, and she curtsied graciously before exiting the dance floor. The sight of the man against the column haunted her. She needed to know the truth.  
Politely declining dances from many, she began to meander towards where she saw him, but was careful to stop and converse with the people along the way. If it was him, she did not want him to realize she was coming to find him. She got within twenty feet of the column when she saw a shadow slip out onto the balcony out of the corner of her eye. Her pulse quickened. She had been on that balcony before.  
She waited a few minutes before approaching the door to the balcony, her heart in her throat. It had been so long since he left. Could it truly be him? Tentatively, she stepped onto the balcony. A tall, slender man leaned over the railing, shoulders slumped, as he looked over the landscape below. Her breath caught.  
“Solas?”  
The man spun around, looking a mixture between horrified and impressed. “Inquisitor! Forgive me, I should not have come.” He made to rush past her, to leave again, but she stepped in front of him.  
“You wouldn’t dare leaving before sharing a dance,” she said, hoping to sound more confident than she did. Just seeing him reminded her of the last time they spoke, after which he vanished without even a goodbye.  
Solas stood still before her, not moving a muscle. “Vhe…” he began, but trailed off immediately, glancing away before he looked deep into her eyes. “Inquisitor, you surely have far more appealing partners than I.”  
His slip caused her heart to soar. Could it be possible he still cared? Grabbing his hand, she said, “Inquisitor’s orders. You cannot leave without being punished for months of no contact.”  
Solas smiled slightly. “Such a high price,” he commented wryly, before stopping dead in his tracks as she pulled him into the ballroom. “Inquisitor, you cannot mean to dance with me in front of the court. It would be detrimental to how the court sees you.”  
Lavellan was careful to keep a grip on his hand. “Solas, you’ve been gone for so long. Things aren’t like that anymore. The Empress dances freely with Briala, and others even venture to ask Briala for a dance.” She began pulling him towards the dance floor again, and he did not resist.  
There were a few gasps and murmurs as people recognized the elf trailing behind the Inquisitor, but Lavellan heard one whisper, “I thought he had gone after heartlessly leaving the Inquisitor!” She glanced quickly back at him, but his face was clear of any emotion, though there was a slight tightness to the corners of his eyes.  
They arrived on the dance floor and Solas brought her into a fast-paced dance she had never seen before. He guided her effortlessly, of course, but since she was so focused on her own movements, she couldn’t ask him the millions of questions she had for him. Once the dance had ended, he bowed deeply and whispered, “Forgive me, you were not meant to see me.”

Lavellan shot up in her bed, her heart pounding. It had been months of heartache, of hoping to dream of him; now that she had, she wished she hadn’t. It made her think he still cared, which made waking up hurt so much more.

Solas sighed as Lavellan vanished from the Fade. She was not meant to see him. After months of traveling only at night, of being sure to dream only when he knew he could not encounter her in the Fade, he had talked himself into visiting her dreams. Just once, he told himself sternly. Just to see how she had moved on with her life and to see how happy and relieved she would be after the downfall of Corypheus.  
But he hadn't seen that. What he saw instead was the beginning of a nightmare. She had been in a cage, begging for freedom, and dark shadows around her merely laughed. He couldn't take it. If he was going to invade her dream, he would at least ensure she had a good one. With a thought he had recreated the scene from the Winter Palace when they had defeated the Grand Duchess' attempt to assassinate the Empress. His unconscious thoughts might have played too large a role, however, as the dress he saw Lavellan in was one they had seen in a window in Val Royeaux that she had admired. He had made sure the magic causing him to be unseen was still active, and then watched the scene unfold. The Fade creations knew she was the crux of the dream, and so they clamored for her attention. He had smiled knowing that the real world would not be so different in that case.   
She danced with the Empress, and her spirit seemed so light with happiness his heart had ached. Whether it had ached with sadness or love, he couldn't begin to tell. He couldn't tell if it was purposeful or not, but she had begun walking towards him. Wrapping himself with his veil of magic, he had slid out to the balcony.   
There, away from the cheery, fast-paced music, his melancholy had seized him. He slumped over the railing, not seeing the ground as he counted each reason why he missed her. Coming to see her was a poor decision. He should not have come.  
As he came to that conclusion, he had heard her voice and his name. When he tried to escape, she had demanded a dance, and who was he to deny her such a nicety in her own dream? But the way he had marveled to find her within his arms again...it was too much. He didn't deserve it. Disgusted with himself, he had ended the dance and sent her from the Fade into the waking world.  
The Fade around him mutated, changing from the Winter Palace to a dark place of shadows and fog. It took him a moment to collect himself into a calm state; it would not do to draw demons towards himself in a moment of self-loathing. Once he had calmed down, he closed his eyes in the Fade and opened his eyes in the real world.


End file.
